Christmas is one of the most important Christian holidays. On this day, the son of God Jesus Christ was born in the city of Bethlehem.

The Orthodox Church celebrates the Nativity of Christ on January 7, and Western Christians who live according to the Gregorian calendar celebrate December 25.

Sputnik Georgia asked what is the reason for this temporary discrepancy between the celebration of Christmas in the past and now.

Christmas

They began to celebrate the Nativity of Christ in the first centuries of Christianity - a holiday was established in honor of the Birth of the Son of God in the flesh by the Virgin Mary. Jesus Christ, according to the Gospel, was born in the Jewish city of Bethlehem during the reign of Emperor Augustus.

Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and her husband Joseph came to Bethlehem from the city of Nazareth, where they lived, fulfilling the order of the ruler Augustus to appear to the entire population for the census.

Mary and Joseph were able to find lodging for the night only in a cave intended for cattle stalls, since all the places in the hotels of Bethlehem were occupied due to the census. The Blessed Virgin gave birth to the Son of God in a cave, swaddled the Infant of God and placed him in a manger - a feeding trough for livestock.

The news of the birth of the Savior of the world, in the midst of midnight silence, when all humanity was engulfed in sleep, was heard by the shepherds guarding the flock. With the news that the Savior had come to the world, angels appeared to the shepherds, who were the first to come to the cave to worship the Infant God.

In the sky at the moment of the Savior’s birth, the Star of Bethlehem shone, which, according to Eastern prophecies, signified the time of the coming into the world of God’s Son, the Messiah, for whom the Jewish people were waiting.

The ancient sages who reached Bethlehem, following the guiding star, also bowed to the Newborn Savior. The Magi brought the Son of God gifts from the East - gold, incense and myrrh, which had a deep meaning.

In particular, they brought gold as a tribute to the king, incense as a tribute to God, and myrrh as a person who was about to die, since myrrh was anointed with the dead in those distant times.

The tradition of making the Star of Bethlehem and decorating the New Year tree with it came from those ancient times. They began to celebrate this event as a holiday much later - one of the first mentions of the holiday of the Nativity of Christ dates back to the 4th century.

History of the holiday

In the Eastern and Western Churches until the 4th century, the Nativity of Christ, which was combined with the feast of Epiphany, was celebrated on January 6 - this holiday was known as Epiphany.

The remembrance and glorification of the event of the appearance of the Son of God in the flesh was the main purpose of establishing the holiday.

For the first time, the Nativity of Christ was separated from Baptism in the Roman Church in the first half of the 4th century. Pope Julius I approved the date December 25 as the date of the Nativity of Christ in 337.

Since then, the entire Christian world has celebrated Christmas on December 25th. The Armenian Church is an exception, which to this day celebrates Christmas and the Epiphany on January 6 as a single holiday of Epiphany.

The Church, moving the holiday to December 25, wanted to create a counterbalance to the pagan cult of the sun and protect believers from participating in it.

In addition, the church fathers believed that December 25 most historically corresponds to the birthday of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The celebration of the Nativity of Christ in the Eastern Church on December 25 was introduced later than in the Western Church - in the second half of the 4th century. The separate celebration of the Nativity of Christ and the Baptism of the Lord was first introduced in the Church of Constantinople around 377. From Constantinople, the custom of celebrating the Nativity of Christ on December 25 spread throughout the Orthodox East.

The Nativity of Christ is celebrated on December 25, but according to the old style, that is, on January 7, by the Jerusalem, Russian, Georgian, Serbian and Polish Orthodox churches, Mount Athos monasteries (in Greece), as well as Eastern Rite Catholics and some Protestants who adhere to the Julian calendar.

The Nativity of Christ on January 7 is also celebrated by the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, Orthodox and Greek Catholics in Ukraine, and Orthodox in Macedonia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

Date difference

The difference in the dates of celebration between Catholics and Orthodox Christians arose after the Roman Catholic Church carried out calendar reforms in 1582, which were not recognized by the Orthodox Church.

The Julian calendar, introduced by Emperor Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was much more convenient than the old Roman one, but still turned out to be not clear enough. Therefore, Pope Gregory XIII in the 16th century carried out a reform, the purpose of which was to correct the growing difference between the astronomical year and the calendar year.

Pope Gregory introduced a new, Gregorian calendar (new style), and the Orthodox Church continued to celebrate church holidays in the old way - the Julian calendar.

In the year when the Gregorian calendar, according to which most countries of the world, including Georgia, now live, was introduced, the difference between the old and new styles was 10 days, and in our century - 13 days.

P.S. Considering that there are a lot of disputes in Georgia related to the date of Christmas celebration, I decided to publish a text written in fairly simple language on the website “Sputnik Georgia” - when, what and why, regarding the Nativity of Christ.

I am sincerely surprised how a considerable part of the Mishists and liberals foam at the mouth, hate almost everything connected with Orthodoxy and explain their hatred by the fight against the evil empire. And so, weakly, just lay bare and say that it’s not about the evil empire, but that I simply don’t believe and despise Orthodoxy? So, apparently, it’s weak.... And then how can you gain percentages in elections?

Some Mishists directly shout out before every Christmas that if we celebrate on the 25th, then we’ll cut the umbilical cord with Russia and become members of the European family... And you know, it seems that they are so accustomed to this chatter that the Georgian majority, in for the most part, they no longer consider it necessary to take such verbiage seriously. Well, they talk and talk, but when were they silent?

What can I say? In my opinion, your orientation absolutely cannot change depending on when you celebrate Christmas. That is, changing the places of the syllables does not change the sum at all...

These are just polls of chatterboxes, absolutely far from the faith and constantly eager to shout something against...

Lord, we seem to have democracy... you can celebrate the 25th and 7th and not celebrate and ignore them at all... Or maybe Misha should be appointed Patriarch so that he can fix everything over the past... centuries, in a couple of days, I’m sure will cope, and... we will become like the elves and giggle at the fact that we have been marking time for so many centuries?

One of the main holidays of the entire Christian world is celebrated in dozens of countries, but not on the same day

Catholics and several local Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas on December 25th. Armenian Apostolic Church – January 6. On January 7, in addition to the Russian Orthodox Church, Christmas is celebrated by Orthodox Christians from Jerusalem, Georgia, Serbia, Poland, as well as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and Old Believers.

Late calendar

When the Christian world had not yet split, Christmas was celebrated on December 25th. The first mention of the fact that believers celebrated this particular holiday dates back to the 300s. Then the whole world lived according to the Julian calendar. It was better than the previous chronology system, but still remained not entirely accurate.

Because of these inaccuracies, once every 128 years one day was accumulated that was not recorded anywhere. Over the centuries, the difference between the calendar and astronomical years increased more and more. Easter began to be celebrated too early and fell on different days of the week. Looking at all this, the Pope GregoryXIII I decided it was time to change something.

In 1582, Europe switched to the Gregorian calendar. Since then, the Catholic Church has used the Gregorian calendar, and the Russian Orthodox Church has used the Julian calendar. Over time, other countries of the world began to switch to the Gregorian calendar, including those in which part of the population considers themselves Orthodox.

Russia held out until the last. Until 1917, our country lived according to the Julian calendar, and therefore we celebrated Christmas at the same time as the rest of the Christian world - December 25. After the revolution, Russia switched to a “progressive” calendar. By that time, the gap between the calendars had already reached 13 days.

The Russian Orthodox Church refused to switch to the Gregorian calendar, despite strong pressure from the secular world. And it was no longer a matter of astronomy. In Orthodoxy, it is believed that the Gregorian calendar distorts the sequence of events described in the Bible, which is why Easter is celebrated at the wrong time. Therefore, the Orthodox Church continued to live and determine the dates of holidays according to the Julian calendar. And Christmas in Russia, which switched to a new calendar, began to be celebrated 13 days later than in most of the Christian world - December 25 according to the old style, but January 7 according to the new style.

History of the schism

Despite the difference of almost two weeks, both Catholics and Orthodox Christians celebrate, in fact, the same holiday, and believe, without going into details, practically the same thing. But there is no unity in the Christian world, and there has been none for a very, very long time.

The official date of the split of the Christian Church into the Catholic Church with its center in Rome and the Orthodox Church with its center in Constantinople is considered to be 1054. But the roots of this event go even deeper.

The biggest religious dispute between representatives of the two opposing sides is the difference in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Western church fathers believe that the Holy Spirit comes from both the Father and the Son. Eastern - that only from the Father. Moreover, everyone, of course, believes that his point of view is absolutely correct, and his opponent is mistaken.

But there are many other reasons for the schism, not all of which have to do with religion. There were both political and cultural reasons for this. Rome and Constantinople lived too differently and interacted little.

The difference in culture and mentality of the Western and Eastern worlds, coupled with the lack of dialogue, increasingly alienated the two centers of the Christian world from each other. Political disagreements and the struggle for power also added fuel to the fire. All this led to the fact that at the beginning of the second millennium, representatives of the two disputing parties finally quarreled and anathematized each other. In 1054, no one could have imagined that all this would drag on so long.

Difference in traditions

Having divided, the two Christian churches began to strengthen and multiply disagreements and discrepancies, turning a small crack between the Western and Eastern worlds into a huge abyss.

In addition to their different approaches to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, Catholics and Orthodox Christians argue about many other things. The Pope is infallible and can never make mistakes in anything; the patriarch in Orthodoxy does not have such privileges. The Catholic Church believes that conception Virgin Mary was immaculate, the Orthodox do not think so. Catholics have Purgatory, Orthodox Christians do not.

In the Catholic Church, all clergy must be unmarried; the Orthodox have clergy-monks, but there are also married ones. Catholics are categorically against any contraception; Orthodox Christians view contraception less strictly. Divorces are prohibited for Catholics; Orthodox Christians allow them under certain circumstances.

Over the centuries of schism, different approaches to how to be baptized, pray, sit or stand in church, receive communion, what to wear to church, and so on and so forth, have only become even more strengthened. Therefore, now, although the churches have taken a step towards reconciliation, the idea of ​​a united Christian world seems realistic to few people.

By the way : Catholics do not fast before Christmas as strictly as the Orthodox do. Catholic Christmas is more like New Year in Russia - the whole family decorates the tree, gathers at the festive table and gives each other gifts. The main Christmas dish for many Catholics is a whole roasted turkey or goose.

Christmas is a great religious holiday that marks the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God in Christianity.

The birth of Jesus Christ is described in the New Testament. The biblical Gospels of Luke and Matthew say that Jesus was born in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. The exact date of the birth of Jesus Christ is unknown. The choice of the date December 25 for celebrating Christmas was accompanied by various factors: on this day the winter solstice occurs in the Roman calendar; this is the date that occurs 9 months after March 25 - the feast of the Annunciation and the vernal equinox.

In the middle of the 4th century, the Western Christian Church established the date of Christmas as December 25, which was later adopted in the East. Today, most Christians celebrate Christmas on the same day according to the Gregorian calendar. However, Orthodox Christians in Eastern, Central Europe and other places in the world celebrate Christmas on January 7, 13 days after many countries around the world (USA, Canada, Australia, UK, etc.) celebrate this holiday on December 25.

Interesting fact: Orthodoxy is one of the 3 largest Christian denominations along with Catholicism and Protestantism. In the modern Christian world, the Orthodox Church, as a rule, lives according to the Julian calendar (“old style”), the Catholic Church follows the Gregorian calendar (“new style”).

Why Orthodox and Catholic Christmases are not the same

Julian and Gregorian calendars

Countries celebrate Christmas at different times because they use different calendars:

• Julian calendar, who in 46 BC. e. introduced by the ancient Roman dictator, the great pontiff Julius Caesar. Christian countries have used the Julian calendar since the 6th century. But over time, it turned out that this calendar had inaccuracies: the Julian year was 11 minutes longer than the duration of the solar year. The extra minutes accumulated and eventually 1 day was added every 128 years. After 1.5 thousand years, the calendar lagged behind the tropical year by 10 days, as a result of which at the end of the 16th century. a new calendar has appeared;
• Gregorian calendar, introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. This calendar became the international civil calendar, according to which Catholic Christians still celebrate Christmas Day on December 25th. The Gregorian calendar eliminated the inaccuracy of the Julian calendar and brought the length of the civil year into line with the solar year. To correct the deviation of the Julian calendar from solar time, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Gregory XIII, omitted 10 days in 1582: October 4th was followed by October 15th.

Catholic countries (France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Poland) were the first to adopt the innovation; over time, Orthodox countries also switched to the new time calculation, but the Orthodox churches continued to use the old Julian calendar to preserve traditions.

Today, the time difference between the old and new calendars is 13 days: December 25 (Julian calendar) falls on January 7 (Gregorian calendar). This has led to discrepancies in the numbers of Christmas celebrations in different countries of the world. Essentially, Orthodox Christians keep Christmas Day on December 25th, which falls 13 days later than that date in the modern Gregorian calendar.

Christmas in Orthodox countries

Many Orthodox countries still adhere to the traditional Julian calendar of religious holidays. Russia, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Georgia, Macedonia, Ethiopia use the old Julian calendar and celebrate Christmas in early January. The Jerusalem Orthodox Church celebrates the Christmas liturgy at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on January 7.

Most Orthodox countries use the Gregorian calendar, but observe secular or religious holidays according to the old style. For example, according to the old style, the Old New Year is celebrated (January 14); Orthodox Epiphany (January 19), as opposed to Catholic (January 6).

Some Orthodox countries (Albania, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine) have two public holidays for Christmas - December 25 and January 7. This allows citizens to independently choose the date of the Christmas holiday.

Interesting fact: Christmas on January 7th is also called “Orthodox Christmas”. However, only 56% of the world's Orthodox Christians (and 7% of the 12% of all Orthodox Christians in the world) celebrate Christmas in early January, the rest at the end of December.

Thus, Orthodox Christians celebrate the Nativity of Christ on January 7, while most countries in the world celebrate this great holiday on December 25. The liturgical calendar of the Orthodox Church is based on the old Julian calendar, which set the date of the Birth of the Son of God Jesus Christ as December 25th. However, in the Gregorian calendar, adopted by most countries in the world, this day falls 13 days later due to a 13-day discrepancy between calendars. Therefore, according to the Julian calendar, Christmas is celebrated on January 7th.

Christmas, regardless of the calendar by which the date of the holiday is determined, for every Christian believer is a bright holiday, which is the best time for spiritual unity, honoring family, religion and goodness. People usually celebrate Christmas at home and also attend Christmas church services.

Christmas - one of the most important Christian holidays. On this day, everyone remembers with gratitude that 2000 years ago God sent down to us his firstborn Son, Jesus Christ, giving hope for salvation to the entire human race. Christmas is celebrated in Catholic and Protestant countries on December 25th Gregorian calendar. In Russia, the Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas too December 25, but according to the old style, i.e. By Julian calendar , which corresponds to January 7 according to the new style. At the first Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, a calculation of the date of Easter was proposed. According to the bishops, all Christians should celebrate Easter on the same day - the first Sunday after the full moon from the vernal equinox. This system of calculating Easter was called the Alexandrian Paschal. Over time, the date of Easter no longer corresponds to the accepted calculation rule. As it turned out, the problem was that the day of the equinox was taken from the calendar, and not from observations. In that year 325, the equinox fell on March 21, and an error in the Julian calendar shifted the day of the equinox every 128 years back by one day, and by 1582 the difference was ten days. It turned out that the rule “The first Sunday after the full moon from the day of the vernal equinox” was violated. To get away from this problem and preserve the wording of the rule, the Gregorian calendar was introduced, the task of which was to maintain a minimum difference between the spring equinox and March 21. On the one hand, the problem was solved, but on the other hand, the error went into the very essence of Easter - in determining the date of Easter itself. The Orthodox tradition, while maintaining the true calculation of the date of Easter, unlike the Catholic Church, has not switched to the Gregorian calendar and carries out all calculations of Orthodox events according to the Julian calendar. Therefore, for example, the Nativity of Christ according to calendar calculation is December 25, but it corresponds to the date January 7 according to the modern calendar - and Orthodox Christians need to celebrate Christmas on January 7. Julian and Gregorian calendars In the 10th century, with the adoption of Christianity, the chronology used by the Romans, the Julian calendar, Roman names of months and a seven-day week came to Ancient Rus'. The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar in the Roman Republic in 46 BC. e. This calendar was developed by the famous Alexandrian mathematician Sosigenes with a group of Alexandrian astronomers. The Julian calendar turned out to be very simple and quite accurate. After the death of Julius Caesar, the seventh month of the year, July, was named in his honor. The last change to the calendar was made by Emperor Augustus, renaming the eighth month August. In order to have the same number of days in August as in July (Caesar's month), he added one day to it - the thirty-first day, removing it from February. So February became the shortest month of the year. The year according to the Julian calendar begins on January 1, since it was on this day from 153 BC. e. Roman consuls took office. In the Julian calendar, a normal year consists of 365 days and is divided into 12 months. Once every 4 years, a leap year is declared, in which one day is added - February 29. We agreed to call those years leap years whose numbers are divisible by 4 without a remainder. Thus, the Julian year has an average length of 365.25 days. The second “great” reform of the calendar took place in the 16th century, and this was due to the fact that the difference between the Julian and solar years is 11 minutes 14 seconds; in connection with this, the Julian calendar lagged behind nature, and over time, the day of the vernal equinox (from which, according to the decision of the Council of Nicaea in 325, the day of Easter celebration was counted and which was “firmly” assigned to March 21) pointed to increasingly earlier dates of the calendar . By the end of the 16th century. this date “ran” ahead by 10 days. This made calculating Easter extremely difficult. And Pope Gregory XIII decides to carry out a reform. According to the reform, the date of the vernal equinox was returned by directive to March 21st. In Catholic countries, the Julian calendar was replaced by the Gregorian calendar in 1582 by decree of Pope Gregory XIII: the next day after October 4 was October 15. Protestant countries abandoned the Julian calendar gradually, throughout the 17th-18th centuries (the last were Great Britain from 1752 and Sweden). Firstly, the new calendar immediately at the time of adoption shifted the current date by 10 days due to accumulated errors. Secondly, a new, more precise rule about leap years began to apply. A year is a leap year, that is, it contains 366 days if: 1) its number is divisible by 4 and not divisible by 100 or 2) its number is divisible by 400 without a remainder. Thus, over time, the Julian and Gregorian calendars diverge more and more: by 1 day per century, if the number of the previous century is not divisible by 4. In the 18th century, the Julian calendar lagged behind the Gregorian calendar by 11 days, in the 19th century - by 12 days, in the 20th century - by 13. In the 21st century, this difference is 13 days will remain. After all, the year 2000, the first two digits of which are divisible by 4, brings an extra day to the next century. There will be no such extra day in 2100: its first two digits are not divisible by 4, and therefore it is not a leap day. So in the 22nd century, the Julian and Gregorian calendars will diverge by 14 days. In Russia, the Gregorian calendar was introduced by the Bolshevik government on January 24, 1918. Because of this, New Year began to be celebrated earlier than Christmas. The introduction of a new calendar led to the emergence of a holiday called “Old New Year”.